


Sarah, the troubled girl

by Spider_Aye



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-01-12 11:24:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18445571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spider_Aye/pseuds/Spider_Aye
Summary: Sarah lives, but gets separated from the group not long after. Yet, that's not how her story with Clementine ends.Also, Nick lives because he's not dying this stupid way on my watch.





	1. Rebecca's child

Sarah stared down at the little horde of walkers right under her feet, in front of her, EVERYWHERE. She was frozen still, just looking at them. She immediately remembered the moment when everyone was escaping Howie's and someone shot her dad. She could see it happening over and over just by looking at the walkers, and now everyone was shooting. Everything was just happening so fast! Rebecca's baby, her dad's death, Sarita's death, Nick getting shot... Sarah was terrified. Suddenly, as Clementine and Luke were pushing a cannon to block the gate, the floor under her feet snapped. Her heart stopped, yet she was not able to move. She knew that soon she'd be in the middle of a horde of bloodthirsty walkers. She closed her eyes, expecting the impact, but it never came. Instead, she heard a loud gasp as someone caught her hand. She looked up and saw Nick hold her in the air.

"Somebody, help!" the man hissed as the wound on his arm reopened.

"Fuck, fuck, hurry! I can't hold up!" Luke said in the meantime, trying to save Jane's life.

And between the two of them stood Clementine, shocked at the quick change of the situation. She hesitated for a moment, not sure who to help first, and then ran up to Nick and reached down to Sarah.

"Sarah, grab my hand!" Clementine begged and the girl somehow reached her friend.

In the meantime, Bonnie helped Luke, so it seemed like the situation was under control. Soon enough, both Sarah and Jane were back on the deck, both breathing heavily. Everyone was thinking how to stop the walkers from crawling up to them, but Sarah was too shocked to even move. Luke knelt next to her, gently touching her arm. She looked up to him surprised and met his sad eyes.

"Come on, let's move away from the edge, okay?" he offered, pulling her slightly. She nodded and with his help sat down next to the entrance to the shop, where Rebecca was giving birth. They didn't dare to walk in.

Meanwhile, Clementine found a solution to the crawling-walkers issue and, with Mike's assistance, used a hatchet to cut off the second rope holding the deck up, causing half of it to fall down, making it impossible to crawl on it. This time no one stood where they weren't supposed to and no one fell. Everyone was safe. Emotions were slowly cooling down, even though Rebecca was screaming in the shop. Everyone was alive so far. Everyone except Carlos, of course. Suddenly, Rebecca's cries went quiet, but no child was making any sounds either. And so everyone took a peek inside, except for Sarah, who didn't dare to move.

"Is it..." Clementine asked, her voice filled with sadness. The child was not moving. Until it started coughing, giving everyone a sign that it was alive.

Everyone started smiling coming closer, looking at the infant crying softly in Kenny's hands. It was amazing, watching a new life appear in a world like this. It was like a new hope appearing, showing everyone that it wasn't over yet, that humanity was still fighting, still surviving out here. Rebecca smiled looking at people watching the situation.

"It's a boy." Kenny announced and Rebecca smiled wider.

"Looks like he got his wish." she whispered, reaching out for the child. He eyed everyone a few times and one question appeared in her mind. "Where's Sarah?" she asked, not spotting the girl anywhere.

"She's outside, I'll bring her in." Clementine said and left to see her friend.

Sarah was still shocked, but it was slowly getting off her mind. She was getting more worried about Rebecca and her baby, but she still didn't dare to move, afraid she'd fall. She then saw her friend come closer and carefully sitting down next to her. The younger girl gave Sarah a warm smile, making the girl feel a little better. Yet, Sarah still was worried.

"It's a boy." Clementine said and Sarah immediately felt better. The kid was okay. "Rebecca probably wants you to meet him. Come on." the little girl said, standing up. She then reached out to Sarah and offered her a hand.

"Okay." Sarah spoke out for the first time since they arrived at the place.

Both girls walked into the shop and were greeted by Rebecca's smiled face. The woman was already sitting, holding her newborn son in her arms. The child was looking around with his big, brown eyes. The boy was already quiet, just like he knew that sounds attract walkers. Sarah approached slowly and then shyly took a seat next to the proud mother. The child spotted her and reached out to her interested.

"Hi there." Sarah said quietly, watching the infant.

"I think he's going to like you." Luke said, leaning over.

"I think everyone deserves a break now, especially the kids." Kenny said.

"I'm staying up a bit longer." Rebecca said, but the others agreed to rest, so it was only her and Kenny.

"Come on Sarah, let's go to sleep." Clem said, pulling her friend's sleeve lightly.

"Okay." Sarah agreed once again and moved away with Clem. Both girls curled up on the floor and slowly drifted away to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [TBC]  
> And that's how Sarah lived. It might seem peaceful now, but will it last for long?


	2. The nights you hardly sleep

After all these years of survival Clementine was waking up at the slightest of sounds, so she was not surprised that something woke her up. She blinked a few times and then sat up slowly, analyzing her surroundings and trying to figure out what caused her to wake up. She then realized she was able to hear someone cry, but it sure didn't sound like the infant. She looked down at Sarah and saw her friend cry silently, choking on her sobs. Clementine immediately felt bad for her once again.

"Sarah?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to- to wake you up." the girl apologized, sitting up and trying her best to keep quiet.

"It's okay." Clementine assured. "Do... you want to talk about it?" she offered.

"N- no." Sarah said, turning her head.

"Okay." Clementine said and then sat closer.

She knew that Sarah was sometimes reacting to sudden physical contact roughly, but decided to risk it and slowly hugged her friend. Sarah flinched at first, but then hugged Clem back. Under all the pain she was going through, she was very glad to have someone who just wanted her to be okay. She stopped crying and even though it was cold her tears were fastly drying. The girls sat together and both felt a little better about past events. Then, after they pulled away, they saw Rebecca, also awake. The woman was holding her son, glad to look at him. She then spotted the girls too.

"What are you doing awake?" she asked and gesticulated for them to come closer.

"How's he doing?" Clementine asked, approaching with Sarah behind her.

"He's perfect." Rebecca answered softly, looking at her son.

"He looks like Alvin." Sarah noticed, looking at the boy.

"You think so?" Rebecca asked.

"Definitely." Clementine agreed with her friend.

"Thank you." Rebecca said with a smile. Then she coughed a few times. "I'm fine, I'm fine..." she assured the worried girls. "I just wish I could get warm..." she said and Mike, who was sleeping next to her, sat up.

"Clem, why don't you give her that coat we found?" the man asked and Clem almost jumped.

"Right, I'll be right back." she said and ran to her bag.

"How are you holding up?" Rebecca asked Sarah while Clementine was away.

"I miss my dad." the girl answered, staring blankly at the wall.

"I promise to you, you'll be all right." Rebecca said, placing her hand at girl's shoulder.

"Here it is!" Clementine returned, giving Rebecca a grey coat.

"Sorry, y'know, about the color." Mike said, lying back down.

"You really think I care about that?" the woman asked. "Do you... wanna hold him?" Rebecca asked Clementine.

"Could I?" the younger girl asked.

"Of course." Rebecca assured. "You're family. Here." she added, slowly placing her son in Clem's arms. The child suddenly started crying. Clem panicked at first, but quickly got herself together.

"Shhh, shhhh. There you go." she said, rocking the infant. It calmed down and looked at her.

"You're a natural." Rebecca whispered after seeing Clementine calm him.

"Look at you. Like a big sister." Kenny said, entering the room and Rebecca coughed again. "Here, let me take him. You all should rest. Especially you." he said, looking at Rebecca.

"Wait, could I also try?" Sarah asked shyly. Rebecca smiled.

"Of course you can." she assured and Kenny slowly gave the kid to the girl.

Sarah looked down at the boy that was already falling asleep now and she couldn't help but smile. While looking at him she felt the exact same thing that everyone else in the group when they were near the boy. That she needed to protect him. He was defenseless, he needed all the help he could get. Sarah remembered how much her dad was excited when they were talking about the child. He was always good at hiding this, but Sarah knew back then that he wanted the child to be born already so he could finally see it.

"He's nice." she said quietly, rocking him lightly.

"All right, I'll take it from here." Kenny said and took the child from Sarah.

"When's the last time you slept, Kenny?" Rebecca asked.

"About two years ago. I'm fine." he said jokingly. "Plus somebody gotta watch you while your Mama gets her beauty sleep." he said, pulling the child closer to his face. "You never forget that smell." he added.

Rebecca closed her eyes and covered herself with the coat, Kenny walked away with her son in order to get further into the shop, where it should be warmer, and the girls were left sitting on the floor in silence. Clem turned her head and saw Jane on what was left of the deck. The woman headed away so Clem couldn't see her anymore. Something told her to go after her, so she got up. Sarah saw her walk over to the entrance and hesitated. She wanted to follow, but still was afraid of falling. She eventually figured that the walkers from the ground were probably long gone, so she got up and followed Clem. She carefully made her way to the entrance to the second small building and entered in the middle of a conversation between Jane and Clementine.

"...remember that you can make it on your own. It's not an option for everyone. If things start heading south, don't let them drag you down with them. You don't owe them anything." Jane said, standing next to the staircase.

"I owe those people everything! They've kept me safe, looked out for me... I wouldn't be here without them." Clementine protested.

"What's happening?" Sarah asked, walking closer.

"Jane says she's leaving." Clementine said.

"They can't keep you safe forever." Jane mumbled.

"No one is safe forever." Clem said, not giving up.

"You take care of yourself, Clem. I mean that." Jane said. "Here." she said, giving Clem a Nail File.

"Thanks." Clem said, taking it and putting in her pocket.

"...Yeah. I, uh... I gotta go. But remember what I told you, and what I told you about her." she said, glancing at Sarah before leaving.

Clem sat down on the ground and watched Jane go away and Sarah felt hurt. She got closer to Clem, taking a seat beside her, and after Jane went away she asked.

"What did she tell you about me?" Sarah asked, not sure if she wanted to get an answer.

"Don't listen to her, Sarah." Clem said and the girl didn't push. They both sat in silence for some time and then Luke arrived.

"Hey." he greeted them. "Thought you both would still be asleep by now. You girls okay?" he asked.

"No." Clem said quietly and Sarah didn't even bother to answer, since she'd only say the exact same thing.

"I guess we all got stuff on our minds." he said. "Temperature's dropping. We're low on food. I think we've gotta stay put for a while, you know, for Rebecca and the baby. So I'm thinking as soon as it gets light, Jane and I should go explore, see if we can find some place to scavenge. Nick also wants to go, but I don't want to put him in danger unless we have to. He has his gunshot wound and all-"

"Jane's gone." Sarah said.

"What?" Luke asked confused.

"She left... for good." Clem explained.

"What? When?" he asked shocked.

"Just now." Clem told him and Sarah nodded.

"Are you serious? She didn't say anything about leaving to me. What the fuck?!" Luke said angrily. "Damnit!" he added, kicking the wall.

"Hey, keep it down." Kenny said, walking in with crying child in his arms.

"Sorry, I... Sorry, just... Jane's gone." he explained himself.

"Really?! Luke? Of all the childish bullshit!" Kenny swore in annoyment.

"Childish? Goddamnit, Kenny, you know what? Just... lay off." Luke said.

"No. You put our lives, this BABY'S life at risk, so you two could roll around like fuckin' teenagers!" Kenny shouted. The two started arguing, soon Nick came and joined in, leaving the two girls alone.

"Why do they keep arguing?" Sarah asked.

"I don't know, but probably because they're just all acting CHILDISH." Clem answered loud enough for the adults to hear her.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I fucked up. But-"

"Stop it, all of you!" Clem said, getting up.

"I'm just trying to explain myself." Luke tried to defend himself.

"Luke, get your fuckin' shit together!" Kenny said.

"Lay off of him, Kenny, he knows what he did wrong, no need to scream at him!" Nick said, standing up for his friend.

"None of you are listening, stop or you'll attract walkers!" Clementine warned.

"Kenny, where's the baby?" Rebecca asked from across the room.

"Is everything alright?" Mike asked, stepping out from the building.

"Everything's fine." Luke said annoyed and walked away.

"We're gonna need a good place to rise him, which ain't here, we gotta push on. We head north. Get to Wellington. That's our best shot." Kenny said.

"There's a town across the river, it might be safe there." Clementine said, pointing at the buildings standing out above the treeline.

"Or at least, it might be a good stop on the way." Kenny said.

"Kenny!" Rebecca called in order to remind the man to give her child back.

"Oh, I'm sorry." he apologized and placed the infant in her arms.

"Clem's got a point. That could be a whole town full of supplies, and not that far from here!" Bonnie pointed out.

"Whole lot better than here, anyway." Kenny said. "Looks like that's our best bet. We need to get on the road as soon as possible... we leave at first light."

"Whoa, whoa! What're you talkin' about?! Rebecca needs rest, a couple days... at the least." Luke protested.

"I can walk." Rebecca assured while coughing.

"No, you can't!" Nick argued with her.

Clementine hesitated. Maybe if Rebecca was saying she was in shape to travel she was right? And Luke was right before, they were very low on food. Clem was about to side with Kenny, but she glanced over to Sarah. She realized that her friend might still not be able to take this journey. Not after what they both had to go through. And so, having Sarah's good at mind, Clem had to disagree with Kenny and help Luke to convince him.

"They're right, Kenny, she needs to rest. We all do. We should wait a few days." Clementine said.

"Maybe that's for the best. We don't want to push Rebecca too hard." Bonnie agreed.

"Just give me a day or two." Rebecca asked.

"I and Nick could go see the town in the meantime, maybe bring some food back." Luke offered.

"This is a mistake." Kenny growled with his arms crossed.

"Look, we all should try and get some sleep. It's been a long day." Mike said.

Rebecca started coughing, Kenny went away, Mike lied down, Bonnie offered to change Nick's bandages on his arm, Clementine smiled at Sarah to assure her friend that it was okay and Luke knelt down next to the new mother.

"Sorry." Rebecca apologized, believing that she was slowing the whole group down.

"Okay Becs, it's gonna be all right." the man cheered her.

And the group stayed hidden from all the walkers poking around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading this, I didn't think anyone would and I'm glad to see some of you slightly enjoy the story. I just warn that there will be max. one more update, maybe even none and then a break, because 16-17 of April I'm having exams and that'll be my main focus. Then I should be back to writing, so hold on tight!


	3. Waiting

Sarah was sitting near to sleeping Rebecca with Clementine next to her. The woman was not looking any better, but no one told her that, they didn't want to worry her. Everyone assumed it was because of lack of food, which had to be very hard on her, and just hoped for the best. They put all their hopes in Luke and Nick that headed to the nearby city to find food a day earlier and didn't return yet. Kenny was going around the room, holding Rebecca's son and talking about how bad the idea of staying was. Mike and Bonnie decided to clear the place of walkers, so no one was telling the man to calm down.

"We could all be in the city now if  _someone_ wouldn't decide that it's better to freeze our asses out there with no supplies! I'm telling you all, Wellington is our only chance of survival! The only thing we can rely on!" Kenny was saying, walking around with an infant.

"Kenny? Keep it down, please." Rebecca said, waken up by man's talking.

"Sorry, it's just stupid that we're here when we could be on our way already!" he excused himself.

"And you think we'd go far?" Clementine asked  looking at the mother 

"Well, further then just by sitting there, that's fuckin' sure!" Kenny protected his opinion.

"Let's just enjoy the little break, okay?" Rebecca asked, tired of all the fighting.

"Fine, fine..." Kenny agreed.

"I'll go and see if Mike and Bonnie need anything. Do you want to come, Sarah?" Clementine asked her friend.

"No, I- I'll stay." her friend said.

"Okay. Call out if you need anything." Clementine said and got up, leaving. 

She went down the stairs and with a sigh looked around. She could see many walkers' corpses lying all around the place, all had their heads damaged and they were no longer growling or walking around. She saw one that was still walking around, so she slowly approached to its back. She was about to stab it in the back of the head but decided to use the new trick Jane taught her while they went to find Sarah. She whistled to get walker's attention and it turned around, slowly getting closer. She kicked its knee and it fell down, making it extremely easy to finish off. She did, and then she looked around, trying to find Bonnie and Mike. She heard their voices behind a collapsing wall close to her and was about to approach, but something made her turn around, just for a second. She froze up, then jumped with a wide smile.

"Luke! Nick! You're back!" she shouted, running up to the boys.

They both seemed exhausted, she wasn't sure if they even took a nap anywhere while being away. Luke was waring a bag and Nick carried one, probably because of the gunshot wound on his arm. Bags seemed filled up with stuff the boys were able to find in the city. When Luke saw Clementine running up to them he couldn't help but smile. The girl made her way to them almost immediately.

"I can help you carry it." she offered.

"Nah, we'll be fine." Luke said.

"Nice way of handling walkers." Nick commented and it was clear now that they saw her kill the walker.

"Thanks! Jane showed me when we went out looking for you." Clementine explained.

"How's everybody holding up?" Luke asked.

"Kenny's mad, Mike and Bonnie are tired of his complaining so they're going out to keep walkers away, Rebeccas's exhausted, the little guy is healthy, that's what Kenny said, and Sarah's still sad." Clementine explained everything she knew so far.

"Add us to the "exhausted people" list." Nick joked.

They finally reached the building they were staying in and climbed up the stairs. Mike and Bonnie appeared right behind them, they heard the talking and assumed that they were back. Clementine was the first one to run up the stairs, alerting everyone upstairs. When she got there, Rebecca was still sitting at her spot with her son in arms, Kenny was deeper inside the building and Sarah was, surprisingly, standing nearby the edge of the deck, looking down at the crushed parts of it. The older girl looked up and saw Clementine, her friend's expression made her smile a little, first time since her father died.

"Nick and Luke are back!" the younger girl cheered.

"Well, 'bout the time." Kenny said, walking out.

"We have a lot of food, get ready for dinner." Luke said.

"Before we eat, can I take a look at your arm again, Nick?" Bonnie asked. Through the last days, she became the new doctor of the group.

"Fine, but I swear, it's getting better." Nick said, going away and handing Mike his bag.

Everyone sat down and unpacked the stuff. There were some canned goods, a couple of energy bars, enough water bottles to pass a few days, and a bag of chips. Under the food, there were some warmer clothes incuding some clothing for little children. Under them, there was a big blanket that immediately was used to cover Rebecca from cold. Everyone got their own water and can with food. Then Rebecca, Clementine, and Sarah got an energy bar each. In the end, the two youngest girls got to eat the bag of chips together. 

The sun already hid behind the forest on west and moon raised up, shining slightly and making the snowy surroundings visible. Kenny took the watch and sat on the broken deck with Rebeccas' son in his arms, keeping the boy warm. Others were asleep inside, Sarah and Clementine curled up next to Rebecca's side, under her blanket, Nick and Luke in a corner while Mike and Bonnie covered themselves with some unused clothes and fell asleep by each other's side. Everything was quiet, not even a single walker going around. Yet, even in their sleep, everyone was worried. It was decided during the meal that they would head out from the place and go north in the early morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So far everything seems to go okay for our small, yet bigger, group. But there are deaths coming in the next chapter, so be ready. To clear things out, Arvo and crew appear in the next chapter and don't you think that only Luke getting shot seems kinda unreal? There were, like, 4-5 people shooting and no one got killed even though they were surrounded?


	4. Cold Weather In The Forest

A cold wind was blowing, making the temperature feel even lower. Snow hitting everyone in faces was not helping with it and everyone was just glad Luke and Nick found so many clothes. It was hard to see anything in the weather like this, yet they had to keep walking. Kenny was in front of everyone, making sure the road was safe, Luke was right behind him with a gun, Nick was walking beside his friend with a small pistol. Behind them, Rebecca was walking, holding her son close to her chest, with Bonnie assisting her. Clementine and Sarah were walking next to each other, occasionally talking to forget about the coldness. In the end, there was Mike, making sure no one stayed behind and nothing followed them. Suddenly, Rebecca tripped and fell to her knees with Bonnie trying to soften the fall and keep her up. Luke stopped and turned around.

"She's exhausted." Luke commented. "We all are." he added, looking at Kenny.

"I can keep going." the woman assured, getting up. And so they kept walking.

"We shoulda left right away, instead of wastin' time around. We coulda find more food and been someplace warm days ago." Kenny complained.

"We did the right thing. She was in no condition to move." Luke stayed by his decision.

"She's worse now." Kenny growled.

"We wouldn't have any clothes then, Kenny. We'd be frozen by now." Nick supported his friend, just like he was always doing.

"We could still turn back." Luke pointed out.

"That's not an option." Kenny answered quickly. "Everybody hang in there! We gotta keep movin' if we're gonna make it to that town before nightfall." he shouted to the others.

"You don't even listen to anyone else! You just go on barking orders!" Luke complained out.

"You're not helping by arguing." Clementine pointed out to all fighting man. 

"Yeah, you should stop." Sarah agreed.

"Well, don't forget that you agreed with me about waitin' to leave camp until today, Clementine." Luke reminded the younger girl.

Everyone went quiet and kept their heads down while walking, trying to keep their faces warmer and stop the snow from hitting them. Then, Rebecca tripped once again, this time even with Bonnie's help she fell down completely and her child started to cry. Bonnie tried to help her up and make sure the infant was not hurt by the fall while Mike looked around. He finally saw an old car tire on the ground. He figured it'd be better to let Rebecca sit there than on the ground.

"Over here, there's a place to sit." he said, pointing at the place. Bonnie helped Rebecca up slowly.

"Rebecca, let me take the baby." Kenny said.

"He's okay. I've got him." Rebecca answered, her voice quiet and soft.

"No, you rest for a moment. I'll watch him." Kenny came closer.

"Back off, Kenny. She said she doesn't want you to take the baby. Don't be weird about it, okay?" Luke said.

"I ain't being weird about it!" Kenny protected himself.

"You are, you just don't realize! But we do! We all do!" Nick almost shouted.

"You should listen to Luke. It's Rebecca's decision." Clementine joined in.

"I was just tryin' to help..." Kenny said with some guilt in his voice.

"Somebody's coming!" Sarah gasped.

"Hello!" someone far away shouted.

"What is this?" Mike asked shocked.

Everyone stopped arguing and looked at some boy's figure far away from them getting closer. He was limping on one of his legs, trying to block the snow with his hand so he could see the group. Clementine's expression suddenly changed from the one she was making to see the stranger to a concerned one. The girl gasped, getting Sarah's attention.

"Arvo?" Clementine mumbled.

"Arvo?" Bonnie repeated.

"Jane and I met him on the observation deck. Before anyone else came." Clementine explained.

"That's the guy?" Luke asked.

"You know this sonuvabitch? What's he want?" Kenny asked.

"Hello? Please!" the boy called out again.

"He has a sick sister. They might be in trouble." Clementine said.

"We should help him." Sarah said.

"Huh. All right." Luke mumbled. Arvo approached and Kenny secretly pulled out his gun and hid it behind his back.

"Hello. Your name is Clementine, yes?" the guy asked with a strong Russian accent.

"Hi, Arvo." Clem answered awkwardly.

"These are your friends?" the boy asked. "I am hoping you can help me now, not like before. All of you can help." he added.

"I'm sorry about before." Clementine apologized.

"Yes." the guy answered. "I need a... Things for-- bandages. I need bandages." he said.

"Are you hurt?" Bonnie asked.

"No." Arvo answered.

That's when some screams in other language reach the group's ears. Before they could realize, they were already surrounded by a large group of man, all had guns pointed at them. They were talking in Russian, so no one from the group could even understand. Almost all the adults started swearing at this situation and a blond haired girl around Arvo's age walked up to him with a pistol pointed at them as well.

"они?" she asked.

"да. они." Arvo answered. Then the whole group of Russians started a conversation.

"What's so funny?" Clementine asked. "Why did they laugh?"

"I told them you are the ones who robbed me." Arvo said angrily. "They think it's funny that you're just a little girl..."

"Robbed?" Kenny asked surprised.

"What?" Sarah asked, looking at her friend. She couldn't believe Clementine would do something like that.

"...And they want you and your friends to put down the guns so we can take your things." Arvo finished.

"Please, don't do this." Sarah begged.

"All I took were the pills." Clementine argued. "Jane took your other stuff, not us! You don't have to get even with us!"

"Jane... Where is the other woman?" Arvo asked.

"She's gone, she left the group." Clementine explained.

"It's a trap. I know it!" Arvo shouted and then spoke with his friends in Russian.

"Hey, hey, HEY!" Kenny growled, pointing his gun at Arvo. Everyone in the group who had guns did the same and everyone was pointing at each other.

"This can be easy for you." Arvo tried to prevent the shooting. "All of you just put your guns down. This will be fine."

"Fine my ass." Kenny answered, focused on aiming.

"We have a baby!" Clem desperately cried out and infant started crying in Rebecca's arms.

"You have a baby with you?" Arvo asked. Russians started screaming at each other again.

"Drop that now or I'm gonna fucking shoot you!" Kenny treated. "I'll do it! Drop it!"

"You! Don't even try this, motherfucker. I guarantee I'm a better shot than you are!" Bonnie tried to shout louder than Russians.

"Everybody keep it cool! It doesn't have to go down like this!" Mike said.

Everyone was panicking and shouting, the child was still crying and people tried to predict from which side the bullets would hit. Sarah pulled Clementine's hand. There was no response, so she did that again and again. When Clem looked Sarah was only pulling her without paying any attention, yet the older girl seemed terrified.

"What is it, Sarah?" Clementine asked, getting herself out of Sarah's grip.

"R-Rebecca!" Sarah cried out and Clementine looked. The mother of the crying child was... was dead. Yet, she moved her fingers and opened her eyes. She was no longer alive, now she was a walker. Without hesitation, Clementine aimed and pulled the trigger.

_**Bang** _

And that was all it took to start the shooting, the strangers thought the shot was aimed at them. Many shots rang out, people on both sides fell to the ground and screamed in pain. Clementine jumped at Sarah and they both crashed on the ground, safer than while standing. They both covered their heads and lied still, trying to simply live. They could hear their friends scream in pain and their eyes filled with tears. After the shots were coming less frequently Clementine looked up, trying to see what was happening. Kenny was hiding behind a tree, shooting, Mike and Bonnie were going backward to hide, Arvo was reanimating his sister, one of the Russians was crawling, visibly shot, others kept firing and Luke tried to drag Nick behind a short wall. Nick got shot again, but this time it seemed a lot more serious.

Sarah also looked up and saw it all, she froze up, terrified. Clementine could see Rebecca's child on the ground and also knew that Sarah wouldn't move. She caught her friend's hand and got her attention.

"Look at me, Sarah! We'll be fine! We gotta get to Luke, we gotta crawl." Clementine ordered and Sarah did what she was told. They were going forwards until they were very close to the infant on the ground. Then Luke spotted them.

"Hey, what are you doing?! Get behind a cover!" he said and Sarah looked at Clem.

"Go, Sarah, I'm right behind you!" Clem shouted and Sarah got up and ran to Luke.

Shots fired dangerously close to her, so she had to hide on another side of the wall, without Luke, alone. Clementine crawled toward a little more and finally reached the child. She hushed the boy and then got up, running to Sarah. She sat down right next to her friend with a child in her arms. She put her hand on Sarah's arm.

"We made it." she said and Sarah nodded. 

Clementine then looked over to Nick and saw how bad he looked. He had blood dripping out from his now reopened wound on his arm, but for some reason, he was covering his chest with his hands. After a moment some blood was visible between his fingers. The man was breathing heavily and he was aware of his condition. Luke was right by his side, trying to get him to calm down. He was looking very worried, more than ever.

"Shit, shit, shit! Were you- were you shot?" Luke asked with panic in his voice.

"I think so." Nick admitted, pressing his hand to his chest harder. "It hurts." he added.

"Where? Where does it hurt? The chest?" Luke asked at the edge of breaking down.

"Yeah. Yeah, there." Nick said, raising his hands and showing that his clothing was soaked with blood.

"Okay, that's- that's not good, but we'll get you back to perfect shape. I promise. Just hang on. I won't leave you." Luke said, trying to keep calm both Nick and himself.

"Sarah, stay calm and keep him safe." Clementine said, causing the girl to look away from the two talking and putting the child in her arms.

"But... But Nick-" Sarah tried to say.

"I know. Luke will keep him safe, now I need you to focus on protecting yourself and the boy, okay?" Clementine asked.

"Okay" Sarah agreed, hugging the child closer. 

Clementine got up and started shooting at the only fighting Russian left. The man ducked behind a rock and Kenny took his chance, running away from the tree he was hiding behind and grabbed Arvo, using him as both human shield and a hostage. The boy was struggling, trying to get back to his dying sister, but Kenny wouldn't let him. He stepped away instead.

"You get out here, or I put a bullet in that kid' head!" Kenny shouted.

"Kenny, what are you doing?!" Clementine asked.

"I'm ending this." the man answered. "Get out here! Right fuckin' now!"

Suddenly, Arvo's dead already sister got up and looked around with her eyes blurry, assuring everyone that was looking that she was a walker. She immediately started crawling towards Sarah and Rebecca's child. Clementine looked over and saw it just in time to shoot the woman in the head, saving her friend. Sarah moved further from the end of the wall, trying to keep herself and the child safe, just as Clementine told her to. Arvo turned and saw his sister with a hole in her forehead.

"NOOO!" he let out a scream, trying to get to her. And he did. "Natasha! Natasha!" he was screaming.

And Kenny just stood there, out in the open, with no cover or hostage, right where the Russian could aim. And the man did. Kenny fell to the ground, trying to dodge the bullets and clementine pulled the trigger on her pistol she used to distract the Russian earlier. The man got hit in the arm and backed away, dropping the gun. He was about to duck again, but suddenly froze, choking on his own blood as it started dripping from his mouth. He slowly turned and saw the person that stabbed him in the neck from the back. He then collapsed to the ground, still choking, and reviled who it was to the group.

Right behind him, with a terrified expression there stood Jane, the same woman that claimed she was leaving forever a couple of days earlier. She seemed surprised at her own actions and terrified by the man's expression. Kenny got up and without a word finished the Russian off by shooting him in the head. Then Clementine got out from behind her cover, helping Sarah up and approaching the two. Bonnie and Mike also joined, Mike's hand was hurt badly. Bonnie looked around.

"Where are Nick and Luke?" she asked worriedly.

"They're behind the cover. Nick's hurt." Clementine said, looking down.

"That was fucked up." Kenny said. "Let's get moving."

"No." Luke said, getting up from behind the cover with his eyes filled with tears, yet determination. "Nick's about to die. We're going back to Howie's and get medical supplies to save him." he announced.

"And you think they'll greet you with open arms and help him after what we did?" Kenny asked.

"I gotta try." Luke said, kneeling again. "Hang on Nick, I swear you'll be fine."

"Maybe let's split?" Mike suggested.

"That's the most fuckin' stupid thing any of you said today! And how are we going to find each other later?" Kenny pointed out.

"That's not a bad idea. You're heading to that 'Wellington' of yours, aren't you? It won't be hard to find it." Jane said. Kenny sighed in annoyment.

"Let's say I'm fine with it. How do we split?" Kenny said, giving the arguing people a chance.

"Luke's obviously heading back with Nick. I can tag along with my arm." Mike said.

"I can go on and check on your eye a couple of times before we get there." Bonnie decided.

"I... I'll go with Clem." Sarah said, looking at her friend. Clementine smiled warmly, cheering her up.

"I can go and make sure you don't do anything stupid, Kenny." Jane offered.

"Excuse me?" Kenny asked annoyed, but then calmed himself. "The little one goes with us." he said.

"Okay." Mike agreed, since he was the only person going back and taking part in the conversation so far.

"We'll go with Kenny, okay Sarah?" Clementine asked and her friend nodded.

"It's set, then." Kenny said. "Nick, Luke, and Mike are going back, Clem, Sarah, Jane, Bonnie, me, and the little one are heading north. Wait, how did Rebecca call him?" Kenny asked.

"She...she didn't." Bonnie said, looking down at the woman's body.

"Shit. So what, are we supposed to call him?" Jane asked, looking around.

"Let's go with... Alvin Junior." Kenny said. "She mentioned she was considering this name." he added, looking at the infant in Sarah's arms.

"I... like it." Clementine said, remembering that Kenny's son was called Kenny Jr. She missed Duck.

"Alvin Jr. it is. You like that?" Kenny asked. The child looked at him, not aware of what was happening. "I think AJ approves." he joked despite the tension.

"It's nice." Sarah said.

"Almost everything's set." Mike said. "What do we do with _him_?" he asked, pointing at Arvo, who was still crying over his sister.

"What about him? After this shooting, it's obvious." Kenny said, pointing the gun at the boy. Arvo immediately got up, keeping his hands up. Mike got between the two.

"Hey, hey, Kenny, no! That's not an answer!" he said.

"The fuck? His buddies shot you and Nick, it is an answer in his mind!" Kenny said.

"Kenny, no!" Clementine said, joining Mike. She just didn't want to see any more killing that day. Kenny hesitated.

"We can find another way." Bonnie also jumped in.

"There is house, food... Please, I can take you." Arvo offered through tears.

"Bullshit." Kenny called.

"No, no! Is true! We have place! Not far! Food!" Arvo was screaming in panic.

"Why would you want to help us? Huh?" Kenny doubted.

"I... I not want to see more people dead." Arvo cried.

"Then close your eyes and I'll make it quick." Kenny said and Arvo almost jumped.

"We need the food. None of this will matter if we all starve to death." Clementine said, making Kenny hesitate once more.

"She's right, Kenny. We don't have enough, even if we would leave Luke, Mike and Nick one day rations and keep the rest we would still last for a day at most." Bonnie said.

"That ain't the only food left around here! City's not far from there, we'll load up there." Kenny said.

"And what is killing him solving in this situation?" Mike asked.

"Then we're sure this fucker won't come after us." Kenny mumbled.

"Jesus, Kenny, look at him! He's a kid, not some assassin!" Mike said.

"Maybe let him go back with others?" Clementine suggested.

"Now what?" Kenny asked.

"That's a good idea." Bonnie agreed. "He'll go with Mike, Nick, and Luke, he might be able to help them out somehow."

"On our way back he could show us this place of his and maybe we'd gain supplies. Then we'd meet you all in Wellington. It sounds like a plan." Mike added.

"You know what? Fuckin' fine. At least he won't be around the kids." Kenny agreed.

And so, the group split up, with Arvo, Mike, Luke, and dying Nick going back to Howie's and Kenny, Jane, Sarah, Clementine, Bonnie, and AJ on their way to the city, and then to the Wellington.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, group kinda breaks, Nick is dying from a gunshot wound and no one from Kenny's team even thinks about checking out the place Arvo talks about. I would've killed off some characters in the shooting if not the fact that I love them all too much and couldn't even think about any of them dying in such a way (in any way) and having some sort of Negan's "Eeney Meeney Miney Moe" also seemed unfair, so I just did what I did. Hope you enjoyed even if you liked any of the characters that suffered through this chapter.


	5. Hard night

The temperature was lowering even more, making everyone stick closer. They didn't have much food left and eating in such weather wasn't the best idea, so they kept pushing toward, trying to reach the city. Kenny was leading the group with Clementine, Sarah and AJ in older girl's arms right behind him, while Jane and Bonnie were making sure no one stayed behind. They ran into only a couple walkers on the way, but it wasn't cold enough to slow them down. The sunlight was already running out, faster than usual, but that's just what happens during the winter. Suddenly Kenny stopped, making both girls bump into him.

"I think that's it. There's the crossing." he said, looking to his side and pointing at a small bridge covered in snow.

"Is it the only way? It doesn't look sturdy." Jane complained.

"It's the fastest, so we take it. Unless you want to either sleep in the snow or walk at night." Kenny growled, taking the first step. Clementine watched him for a moment and then turned to Sarah.

"Do you want me to go first?" she offered.

"Can't we go together?" Sarah asked shyly.

"Of course we can." Clementine said.

She then grabbed Sarah's sleeve and slowly went ahead. The girl behind her was visibly struggling not to look down, so Clementine hurried up, almost catching up to Kenny. The crossing was making weird sounds all the time someone was standing on it, but it was sturdy enough to hold both girls and infant on the one said and one adult on the other one. As soon as the girls reached the end of the bridge Sarah let out a breath. They were fine. They crossed it. Next one to go was Bonnie. Everything seemed to be going just fine, but when she was halfway through she suddenly froze up, hearing a racking sound. She then rushed forward and jumped onto the ground as the bridge crushed. She slowly got up and everyone turned around to see Jane on the other side.

"Well, shit." Kenny swore.

"I told you it wasn't sturdy enough!" Jane shouted.

"Keep your voice down!" Clementine said.

"Jesus, fine. What now?" Jane asked.

"I think there's another crossing a couple of miles ahead. You could try and use it. We'll wait in town, okay?" Bonnie said.

"Be careful." Jane said as an agreement, looking at Clementine.

"You too." the girl answered, and Jane slowly left with a little of food she was carrying and a pistol took from Russians.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Sarah asked, looking around.

"She better be, I'm not about to waste my time waiting for her to come." Kenny growled.

"So, now we just go to the city?" Clementine asked.

"Yeah." Kenny said, taking the first step.

They were walking for a couple of minutes more, most of them worried about the woman they had to leave behind, and then they finally marched into the city. It seemed quiet and empty at first, but everyone knew that a walker could hide anywhere and appear out of nowhere, so they kept their eyes open. The crossed a couple of streets and sun was getting really low. With a sigh, Kenny stopped.

"I think we need to stop for the night." he announced.

"This house looks nice." Bonnie said, pointing at one of the houses. "It seems untouched. If we get in without destroying anything, it might be warmer inside." she said.

"Good, Alvie needs somewhere warm to sleep. Let's get into the garden and look." Kenny said, looking over to the child held by Sarah.

And so they got closer to the fence and Bonnie looked around, looking for a place where it would be easier to climb it when Clementine tried the regular entrance. To everyone's surprise, it was actually worked. The young girl held the gate for the others to get into the backyard and she was repaid by a pat on her head from Kenny. She then followed her group and everyone started looking for some way in. Soon AJ started crying, so Sarah sat down next to the front door in an attempt to calm the child down. She suddenly remembered that her dad would usually hide an extra set of keys under the doormat in case she forgot to take her set from her room. The girl thought it was stupid, but she moved the doormat she was sitting on a moment earlier and her eyes winded. She was looking 3 silver keys.

"I've found the keys!" she informed the group.

"You've found what?!" Kenny asked, rushing up to the front door.

"The keys." the girl answered shyly, surprised by man's sudden reaction.

"Please, tell me they're the right ones!" he prayed aloud.

"I- I think so..." Sarah said, slowly picking them up.

She handed them to Kenny and the man slowly put the first one in the lock. It didn't fit in. He took another one and pushed it inside, turning it a moment later to hear a click. With an excited expression, he pushed in the last key and smiled wider as another clicking sound was hearable. He gently pushed the door and it opened. Kenny rubbed Sarah's hair and then entered. He pulled out his gun and looked at Bonnie.

"We need to make sure it's clear here. Kids should stay outside." the man decided.

Everyone agreed, so the girls with AJ sat by the door as Kenny and Bonnie got into the house, exploring it. It was already dark enough to make it hard to see when the adults let the children into the house. It turned out that the family that used to leave there had two children - one probably in their late teens, while the other one still an infant. After a moment a plan was made. Kenny was the one to take coach, he even said he wanted to, Bonnie was to sleep in teen's room, while Clementine Sarah would take the parents' room alongside with AJ, since there was a crib inside.

To make sure the girls were safe, adults locked the door, making sure that if anything would get into the house, it wouldn't get to them. Sarah put AJ in his new crib and got into the bed. Clem looked out the window, trying to see anything and then she joined her. She was about to fall asleep, but she decided to check on Sarah one last time before drifting away.

"How are you, Sarah?" she asked quietly, trying to not wake up AJ, who already fell asleep.

"I'm okay..." her friend answered hesitatingly. "Do you think there are any books here?" she asked.

"I think I saw one on the chair next to me. Hold up, I'll check." Clem said and she then reached out, grabbing the thing she thought was a book.

"Can I see?" Sarah asked, sitting up.

"Here you go." Clementine handed the book to the older girl.

"Oh, the cover has title engraved in it!" Sarah realized, slowly running her fingers on it. She then suddenly gasped.

"What is it?" Clementine asked worriedly.

"It's the second part of the story I've been reading back at the cabin!" Sarah cheered, running her hand again, only to make sure it was it. "I can't wait to read it." she sighed. Clementine hesitated.

"You know, you can start now." Clementine offered.

"Really? How?" Sarah asked.

"Here." Clem said, lightning her lighter. The small flame made the book visible.

"Are you... sure it's safe?" Sarah asked.

"I won't drop it, I promise." Clem answered.

Sarah then hesitantly got to reading, slowly getting lost in the book and feeling more confident with doing it by the light of lighter. Reading was always her way of blocking the world out even back before it all started happening, and she needed that now. She needed to get her mind off from all the things that happened. She needed to relax. She needed to act like nothing happened. And so she was reading, with Clementine following the plot of the book and trying to understand it without reading the first one next to her. And for the first time in many days, it finally seemed like it was safe.

Then when girl already got through the second chapter, something seemed to snap in the closet in the room. Both girls stopped reading and turned their heads to it. Then, something hit the door to it. Sarah looked over to her friend, already shaking, and Clementine tried to think of a plan. Whatever it was, it might be dangerous, and they were stuck with it. Finally, she got one.

"Get under the bed, Sarah!" Clementine ordered.

Clementine herself got out of bed, ran up to AJ, took him out from his crib and joined Sarah under the bed. She shushed both of them and lied still, waiting for whatever was coming. There was another hit inside the closet, this time followed by a sound of breaking wood. Then, a couple of steps and growling. Sarah froze up, AJ woke up and was about to cry, Clementine looked around for anything pointy to fight. There was nothing.

"It's okay." Clementine whispered as quietly as possible. "We just have to wait for others to wake up. We will stay quiet, okay?" she whispered. 

Sarah nodded, not daring to speak. And so they lied, waiting, making sure even AJ didn't make a sound and fell back to sleep. The walker that was doing SOMETHING in the closet was now slowly walking around the room, growling and making both girls scared for their lives. Yet, eventually Sarah fell into a state between sleep and being awake because of how tired she was, but Clementine somehow kept herself up. She felt like she needed to make sure everyone would be fine, so she didn't dare to even close her eyes. The waiting was terrible, tiring and terrifying, but finally, there was a clicking sound in the door and it opened, getting walker's attention almost immediately.

"Oh shit!" Kenny swore, tripping in the door. "Bonnie, get a gun, there's a walker!" he shouted and then a couple of things crushed down to the floor, probably Kenny was holding the thing off.

"Here!" Bonnie shouted running in.

_**Bang!** _

And then the walker hit the floor. Kenny caught his breath and looked into the crib, later at the bed again.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck! No, it can't-" he shouted, almost breaking down to tears. He probably would, but Clementine crawled out with AJ in her arms and Sarah right beside her.

"We're okay!" she announced and Kenny immediately ran up to the girls, hugging everyone.

"Thank GOD! What was that fucker doing here?!" Kenny asked, looking over to the body.

"It was in the closet." Sarah answered, looking at the broken door to it.

"Sonovabitch." Kenny swore, looking into it. "Fucker had to hang himself in there. The rope snapped. Thank GOD you hid down there." he said, looking at the bed.

Later Bonnie took AJ to feed him some milk they had while the rest had a normal meal. As normal as it could get. Then, kids went back into the room and Clementine got her pistol back to be able to protect herself and the others while Kenny and Bonnie searched the house again, this time more carefully. It turned out that it was the one and only walker around there, but they've found a small bed, probably belonging to the teen years earlier. They put it in his room so the girls could sleep together without smelling the walker. Kenny said he could take it, so he was the one to sleep there the next night with AJ, leaving Bonnie the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short story for the family living in this house I made up:  
> Parents were out when it happened, leaving their teenage son and his little sister on their own. At first, the teen was handling it well, then he realized his parents would never come back, but he kept going for his sister. Unluckily, it wasn't long before she died when they went looking for help. He couldn't forget watching her being torn apart, so he hid in the room where she used to live and ended up hanging himself, not knowing he would turn. The end!
> 
> Anyway, sorry for not updating this much, I'm seriously doing my best.


	6. Separation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarah gets separated, but it's not long until she's no longer on her own.

Sarah slowly opened her eyes, looking around. Sun was high, shining through the window and making her feel warm. She turned in her bed to see Clementine wasn't there. Confused, she got up and looked for her friend. She went around the rooms on her floor, but no one was to be found. Not even Kenny, Bonnie, or AJ. Feeling her panic rise with each second she walked down the stairs. There, she finally found someone.

"Jane?" the girl asked, making the woman turn.

"Oh, you're up! Good," Jane greeted. Sarah looked around.

"Where's everybody?" Sarah asked. Jane hesitated before answering.

"They left to go forward. I was supposed to wait for you here," she explained and Sarah nodded.

"Okay. Then we should go, right?" the girl asked.

"I'll stay a moment longer, make sure we took all our stuff. May as well look for a vehicle on my way, so I'll take my time, but you should go ahead. Here, they gave me a map. I know the way, you can take it," Jane said, handing the girl map.

"Thanks. I'll take my stuff and go," Sarah agreed.

"Take only the most important things, I'll keep track of the rest," Jane promised.

"Okay," she agreed once again.

She went upstairs and wondered what to take. She didn't see any bag around, so she just had her pockets. She saw Clementine's lighter on a desk, so she immediately took it, sure that the girl forgot to take it herself. She then took a candy bar that was given to her last evening and her book. She got downstairs, sure she wouldn't fit anything more into her pockets and she had no more things to take anyway. The book didn't fit in as well, so she approached Jane.

"Could you take that book with you?" the girl asked.

"Uh, yeah. Sure," the woman agreed.

"I'm going now, okay?" Sarah informed.

"Of course. Look out for walkers," Jane wished and Sarah left.

As she was walking down the street she could hear sounds coming from a house to her left, but she just picked up the pace, knowing those were probably walkers. With the map she reached the city center, avoiding the only couple of walkers she ran into, and headed the way she was supposed to. After an hour or so she reached the border. She checked up on the map, making sure she had to head down this road. And she headed there.

By the nightfall, she was hungry after eating that one candy bar she took and cold from the temperature, yet she didn't catch up to the group yet. Nor did Jane catch up to her. She was getting worried, so when she saw a gas station she decided to check if no one was here. Empty. Yet, it seemed safe and warmer, so she decided she'd take a nap there. She needed the energy to catch up with others. So she found some blanket that was lying in the corner and covered herself up. She smiled slightly, thinking how happy Clem will be to see her walk up to them on her own. She felt a lot more mature now that she was allowed to go alone. She fell asleep.

In the morning she only looked around fastly to find some chips and a can of beans. She took it and the blanket to make sure she catches up to the other safely. They couldn't be far now. She walked out, covering herself in her new blanket. She was keeping a lookout for walkers as she was passing some wrecked cars. She found herself holding her hand in her pocket and tightening her grip on Clem's lighter. She wanted to catch up with them already really bad. Little did she know, she wouldn't.

The day earlier, a couple of hours after Sarah left, Kenny, Bonnie, and Clem with AJ walked back into the house to see Jane by the table. They all had bags and AJ was wearing new warm clothing. They smiled, seeing a woman there and Clem waved to her, giving AJ to Bonnie before she did. The young girl rushed over to Jane and looked around.

"Is Sarah up yet?" she asked. Jane looked down.

"She's not here," she answered. Clementine tilted her head to left.

"What? Why?" she asked.

"Is she okay?" Kenny asked worriedly.

"I... She was a liability and you all know. I made sure she wouldn't pull us down with her," Jane answered. Kenny ran up to her within seconds and grabbed her by her collar.

"The fuck did you do?!" he asked, shaking her.

"I might've saved your life! Or Clementine's! Or-" Jane defended.

"You killed a fucking child!" Kenny shouted out, cutting her off.

"What did you do, Jane?" Clementine cried out.

"I made her leave the city. Said you already left and she should catch up," Jane explained.

"The fuck you did?! Where did she go?!" Kenny asked.

"I'm not telling you, she'll get you killed!" Jane protested.

"Y'know what's gonna get you killed?! My fucking gun if you don't tell us!" Kenny threatened.

"Jane, please!" Clementine begged.

"Okay, okay, I..." she went quiet.

"Where?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't know," she whispered.

"The fuck you don't?!" Kenny shook her.

"I just gave her a map with some random road! I don't remember where she went! I just-" she didn't finish, Kenny pulled out his gun and pressed it against her forehead.

"Kenny, don't!" Clementine cried out. The man turned and saw the little girl on the edge of tears. He mumbled something and then pulled Jane behind him, pushing her out the door.

"Get the fuck away from here! If I ever see your face again I'm shooting at you! I don't give a shit about circumstances! I don't care if it'll be in a community or if you'll be trying to help us years from now or- You're fucking dead!" he shouted.

The woman left scared for her life. The house was quiet. They decided to wait. Maybe Sarah would be back. Yet, in the morning they knew she wasn't going to show up. They took their stuff and went looking for her. They wanted to check the whole city a couple of times. Then they'd head north, she knew they were heading to Wellington after all. Clementine realized her lighter was missing and somehow smiled. She quietly wished Sarah to be happy, reading at night. And as she thought about it, she felt her heart sink.

After another day of walking, Sarah wasn't sure if she was going to catch up with the others. After spending a night in a wrecked car, she headed back. Yet, it took her two days with the little food she had. She was able to get some more after a night in the gas station again, but it still wasn't enough. She hoped that Jane had some with her. She walked into the house and there was no one here. Nor did she see anyone o her way back. She felt her panic rise. She was  ** _alone_**. She curled up on the ground in the corner and just sat there, terrified. She wasn't able to calm her breathing, her heartbeat was so fast she felt like her heart was trying to break out from her chest and she couldn't open her filled with tears eyes nor stop clenching her fists. Nor shaking. She was alone. All alone. With no one. She found herself crying hard, thinking about her father again.

The very next day, the fifth day of her struggles, she realized she had to cry herself to sleep. She knew she now had to catch up to the others. So once again she left the house and reached the gas station by the nightfall. There she spent another night, looking the place over carefully this time, finding a bag and taking all the food and water she could find. She left and marched forward, trying to catch up to people that weren't really there. But she believed they were. So she was walking, sleeping in abandoned buildings or cars, saving her food as much as she could. Yet eventually, it ran out.

She'd been on the road for two weeks now. She could no longer feel her legs, she was shaking because of cold, she was hungry, thirsty, tired... She was struggling to walk straight. But there were no cars around, nowhere she could hide from the snow falling from the sky. She heard a growl to her right and saw a walker there. She struggled to run away, trying to leave it behind herself. She could feel her body lose all the energy she had left while running. Suddenly, she stomped on her blanket. Losing her balance, she fell and rolled down the road, on the way to some forest. She felt cold snow on her face and she turned her head. With her vision blurry, she saw the walker stumbling to the side of the road, tripping and falling her way. It was about to bite her and she could feel her hands stuck under the blanket, not able to move. She closed her eyes, but she heard a "swoosh" and something arrow-like was already stuck in Walker's head. 

"Is she alive?" she heard someone say. She couldn't answer, but she somehow saw the two boys. One with dark skin, other with light hair. The only things she was able to make out in their appearances. It was the blonde who asked.

"I don't know, dude! Did it bite her?" the other boy asked.

"I think I shot it before it could," the first one informed, crouching next to Sarah. He placed his hand on her neck, checking the pulse.

"And?" the other one asked.

"Oh shit, she's even breathing!" the first one shouted, seeing the fog come out from her mouth. "Come on, we gotta get her to our place!" he shouted.

As Sarah was drifting away she could feel the lift her on her blanket and ran into the forest, careful not to drop her. She was scared. She didn't know them. What if they'd hurt her? She wanted to see Clementine, Kenny, Bonnie, AJ, and Jane again. Or Luke, or Nick, or Mike? She wanted to see a familiar, friendly face again. But she couldn't.

When she woke up she found herself in a warm bed, covered with a couple of blankets. She smiled, sure that it was all a dream. A bad one, but a dream. A long one, sure, but still  _a dream_. She opened her eyes and saw a woman she didn't know next to her bed. She flinched and tried to crawl away, only to realize she had a wall behind her. She was terrified. The woman looked up from the book she was reading. She had brown hair and blue eyes. She smiled at the girl friendly.

"Where am I?" Sarah mumbled through her fear. "What happened?"

"You fell from the road, but my boys found you in the last second," the woman explained calmly.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"My name is Ms. Martin. I'm a school nurse," the woman explained.

"School? Where are we?" Sarah asked. The woman smiled wider.

"I have the honor to welcome you into the Erickson's Boarding School For Troubled Youth," she said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's where the road took Sarah. After the next chapter, I'm going to tag the characters from the school. I guess that this story's title (Sarah, the TROUBLED girl) was some sort of foreshadowing, but I don't think anyone realized until now. 
> 
> To make it clear, yes, those were Louis and Marlon who saved her.


	7. New home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even before the chapter, let me just say that I'm really sorry for not updating this long! I suddenly got the idea of writing a story to celebrate the pride month and I just had to keep writing new chapters every day so I'd have them on time. Sorry again and I promise that the story will get back on track now.

"Is it a working school?" Sarah asked the first thing that crossed her mind.

"Well, we're not teaching anymore, but it's our home now," the woman explained.

Sarah slowly sat up and felt stinging in her leg. She hissed, automatically grabbing it. It took her a while to calm down and see the woman's worried expression. She hesitated.

"What happened to my leg?" the girl asked worriedly.

"When you fell it got hurt. It should heal soon, but you shouldn't overwork it," the nurse explained. Sarah nodded. Yet, she could feel her panic rising. The woman seemed to notice. "I'll leave you for a moment and try to get some food for you, okay?" she offered and left.

Sarah pushed herself closer to the wall, no longer able to contain her shaking. She was still half-covered in a blanket as she was looking around the place. She didn't know people here. She didn't know where the "here" was. She wanted to be with someone she knows so badly... She was now struggling to breathe, afraid of what people here might want to do to her. What if it'll be just like where Carver was? What if they will hurt her? What if they're dangerous? What if she never finds her old group? What if-

A sudden scratch on the door made another question pop up in her head. "What if walkers come?". Terrified, she tried to get away and find a spot to hide. She immediately remembered where she hid with Clementine and AJ the first night in the city. She managed to get off the bed even though the pain her leg got into and she was about to lie down and hide, but the door opened. What entered wasn't the woman from before nor a walker. It was a big dog. Sarah sighed in relief but the animal growled at her.

She had to admit, she was always more of a cat person, but she had nothing against the dogs until the very moment she heard how did Clementine get hurt before Luke and Pete found her and brought her to the cabin. It was a stray dog that bit her and now there was another one, dangerously looking, growling at Sarah. The girl slowly slid down to the floor with her back to the wall. Fearfully and hesitantly she reached out to the animal. The dog immediately calmed down and rubbed its head against girls hand.

Her face instantly lightened up, animals were always helpful for her during stressful situations. She slowly petted the dog's head, making it lie down next to her while swinging its tail. It was surely enjoying all the affection given by the girl. Sarah calmed down successfully with the help of the dog. Suddenly, she heard someone calling out for someone else in the hallway next to the room she was in. The dog rose its head and barked loudly.

"Rosie? Rosie!" the person was calling out.

After hearing the bark, the boy walked into Sarah's room. He had light hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a blue and white letterman. He smiled seeing the dog and even wider seeing Sarah petting it.

"Here you are, Rosie!" he cheered and the dog walked over to him. "Hi. I see you already met Rosie, huh? I'm Marlon," the boy introduced himself. Sarah hesitated. Wasn't that the boy the older woman mentioned?

"I'm Sarah," she answered quietly.

"How are you feeling?" the boy asked.

"I..." she hesitated. "My leg hurts..." she admitted.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Marlon knelt down. "Hey, uh, sorry to ask it like this, but do you have a group?" he asked. Sarah went quiet. She tried to answer, but she just couldn't choke the words out. The boy seemed to realize her struggle. "It's okay, you don't have to tell. Just, are we in danger because of having you there?" he asked. Sarah nodded in disapproval and Marlon smiled. "Now we're getting somewhere. Thank you. Now excuse me, I gotta feed Rosie. Is that okay if I leave you now?" he asked

"Y- yeah," the girl agreed.

"All right then, see you soon!" he waved goodbye and led the dog out of the room.

Sarah stayed on the floor, still shaken up by the question of her group. Did she still have one? Or were they left in the past?

The next couple of days were really hard on her. She struggled to have a conversation with anyone and so many unknown faces were passing her room. She was finding it hard to fall asleep or even relax. Her leg was hurting, more or less. She had nothing to do, the only thing keeping her somewhat sane was rubbing Clementine's lighter that she took with her. And days were passing. And then, another person entered her room. It was a red-haired girl that was obviously younger than Sarah. She approached her slowly.

"Hi, my name is Brody," the new girl greeted.

"I'm Sarah," the other girl answered.

"It's nice to meet you," the younger girl said but got no answer. She slowly approached. "Can I sit here?" she asked, pointing at the bed.

"Yeah, sure," Sarah agreed.

And so Brody sat down but stayed quiet after that. It was somewhat weird, the other kids would just try to have a conversation with Sarah and now there was this girl, sitting there quietly. And the older girl found this silence rather calming than awkward. She liked the presence of someone who wasn't judging her, just sitting next to her. She could feel herself slowly relaxing. Suddenly, Brody spoke out quietly.

"What do you like to do?" she asked, so Sarah looked at her.

"What?" she asked quietly.

"Do you... have any hobbies?" Brody asked the other way. Sarah rubbed her hands.

"I like reading..." she answered. Brody smiled softly.

"You're lucky, we have a school library in here," she said, to which Sarah's eyes lit up.

"Really?" she asked under her breath.

"Yeah, should I get you any books?" Brody offered. Sarah hesitated.

"Well, there's a book I've been trying to read but I lost it," she mumbled.

"Give me the title and I'll go take a look," the younger girl offered.

Not 10 minutes later Sarah was holding the book in her hands, looking it over, amazed. Not only was it the right book, but it was the same size, so she wouldn't have to struggle to find the page she finished on. Brody sat next to her and again send her another warm smile.

"Thank you," Sarah whispered.

"No problem. I actually tried reading that one, you know? Got stuck on the 3rd chapter," Brody admitted.

"If you... want to, we can start reading there," Sarah offered.

"That'd be nice, but we better hurry, we have only so little time before it gets dark," Brody reminded as she leaned over to see the page.

Soon enough, it was getting dark and with each minute it was harder to make out letters, then words, then whole sentences. It was also getting colder. Eventually, Brody sighed.

"I guess that's how much we can read today," she mumbled, visibly disappointed by the darkness.

"When I was first reading this book a girl was with me and when it got too dark, she did this," Sarah said, carefully lighting the lighter. Brody flinched.

"Are you sure it's safe?" she asked.

"Worked well the last time," Sarah shrugged.

"Okay then, let's stay here a moment longer," Brody smiled.

The two finished reading the chapter and decided to go to sleep, for now, wanting to have any energy for the next day. And after Brody left, Sarah for the first time didn't have an issue falling asleep. Something made her trust the girl. Yet, the next day, she didn't show up to continue reading. Sarah got worried immediately but decided to wait. What was even more unsettling was that the nurse didn't show up to check on Sarah's leg like she usually would. It hasn't been until the afternoon when someone entered. And it was none of the girls, it was Marlon, the owner of the dog.

"Hey. I came to tell you that Miss Martin won't check up on you today. Nor tomorrow. Nor  _ever_ ," he said while standing in the door and he seemed so sad that it was painful to watch.

"Why? What happened?" Sarah asked, surprised.

"She died today," the boy announced and he was trying to act like it was nothing, but it was, in fact, a painful thing for him to talk about.

"Oh. I- I'm sorry. She seemed... nice..." Sarah mumbled. She wasn't sure what to say, she didn't know that woman too good. She also felt like... like death was tip-toeing her around, taking people away.

"Anyway," Marlon said, trying to push the tension away. "It's been some time since you arrived, so I'd be grateful if you told me exactly what happened before we've found you. It's not everyday a teenage girl is running around on a road in the snow, y'know?" he tried to crack a joke.

"Y-yeah. I think I can..." Sarah mumbled.

And so Marlon hesitantly fully entered the room and soon it was possible to see his dog entering the room behind him. Sarah seemed surprised by the animal, so Marlon quickly explained that he figured Rosie would be able to help Sarah calm down, which the girl really appreciated. And so, petting the dog she took a deep breath, getting ready to speak.

"So? You couldn't be all alone out there, who were you with? It'll be for the best if you told me everything," Marlon asked.

"Well... at first, I was with my dad," Sarah said as her voice cracked up.

"And it was just you two? For how long?" the boy asked.

"A couple of months..." the girl mumbled. "We then joined a society led by Carver, and there we-" she tried to recall all the events.

"Hold it. A society?" Marlon asked her.

"Uh, yes. It was a mall, I think, and it was secure, and with food..." Sarah mumbled.

"Noted. So, like this school?" Marlon made sure.

"I- I think so," Sarah agreed.

"All right, back to your story. What happened there?" the boy put the girl back on the track.

"We met some people and we decided that Carver was bad, so we tried to run away. A man, Reggie, didn't get out, but I and others did, so we all stayed in a cabin we found," Sarah explained.

"All right, and the others are who?" Marlon asked.

"Uh... My dad, a man named Luke, his friend Nick, Nick's uncle Pete, a pregnant lady named Rebecca and her husband, Alvin," Sarah counted out. It was hard to just talk about those people like that, but she tried to push through. "And we lived in the cabin for some time. Long-time. We were fishing and we had books, it was nice. Then, one day, Luke and Pete met this girl, Clementine, while hunting. She was nice too. And after a couple of days, she went with Pete and Nick to fish and-" Sarah's voice broke down.

"And then what?" Marlon asked.

"And Pete got bit..." Sarah whispered.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Marlon said, but there was some fakeness in his voice. But he didn't even know Pete, so who could blame him?

"And then Clementine came home and Luke, Alvin, Rebecca, and my dad went looking for Nick. And then Clementine agreed to teach me how to shoot. And then we thought Luke was back. And then we went downstairs and it was Carver instead and I hid under my bed while Clementine distracted him. And then he saw a picture of me and left. And then the others came back but didn't find Nick and we decided to leave and on our way, Clementine showed us where Nick was and we all left," Sarah said almost on one breath. Those memories were just flowing through her mind and she was scared of going through it all again.

"All right, then what?" Marlon pushed forward.

"We traveled for a couple of days, and then we got to a ski lodge and there were people inside, a woman and two men and everyone was screaming and Clementine came closer and she knew one man so she hugged him and they let us in. His name was Kenny, the other one's name was Walter and the woman was named Sarita. And she was really nice to me. But then Carver found us and he killed Walter and he took us away and we got back to the community and it was scary, and we met Regie again but he had no hand and Carver killed him because he got mad and then we ran away with three other people, Bonnie, who helped us last time, Mike, and Jane. But Alvin was hurt and didn't come," Sarah started mumbling.

"Hold it. How'd you escape?" Marlon asked. Sarah flinched.

"We ran out into a horde and tried to slip past it. And then..." her voice broke down as she recalled the events way too clearly. She could see them all over again. What was worse, she couldn't not have. "Nick got shot, Sarita got bit, my dad was shot and killed-" she choked on this words.

"Oh. I'm- I'm really sorry. It must've been horrible. Well, I guess you're pretty strong if you were able to carry on after this one," Marlon prised and this time there was nothing fake about it. Just like he was there when it happened. That little compliment made Sarah feel a little better.

"Then I zoned out. And I ran. And Luke and Nick found me. And Nick went looking for help. And he brought Jane and Clementine to us. And I couldn't move, but Clementine helped me and we all left. And Sarita died. And everyone was looking for a place to stay. And it was cold. And then, Rebecca was borning so we got her to a gift shop to be safe. And after a couple of days, we headed out with her son, but she died and we ran into some Russian people and they attacked us and they shot Nick seriously and only one of them lived, but I don't remember his name. And we separated so I was with Clementine, Kenny, Bonnie, and Jane. We reached a city and were there for some time but then something weird happened," Sarah stopped to get her thoughts together.

"What weird thing?" Marlon insisted, yet with a comforting voice.

"I woke up one day and only Jane was there. She gave me a map and told me to follow it because they headed out. But I didn't find them, so I went back to her and she wasn't there, so I went out again and just kept going and..." her voice broke once again.

"And that's how you got there? I'm sorry about that. It sounds rough," Marlon said. Sarah nodded.

"Do you think they'll find me?" she asked quietly.

"Not to give you too much hope, but we'll keep a lookout for any groups passing through. Also, I'll have Sophie bring you a cup of tea if you like it," Marlon assured before offering.

"That'd be... nice," she nodded.

Not an hour later she was done drinking the tea and again reading the book with Brody. Her friend was obviously troubled by the loss of Miss Martin but came anyway just to spend time with her, so she got a feeling she didn't feel in a long time. Even if just for a second, she felt like she was home.


End file.
